MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 1: Dalvin Cook #33 of the Minnesota Vikings walks into the locker room after getting injured on a play in the third quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions on October 1, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

All signs point to Vikings running back Dalvin Cook being a full participant when training camp begins in late July.

Cook tore the ACL in his left knee in a Week 4 game last October and missed the rest of his rookie season. He has been doing some work on the field since spring drills began April 16, and athletic trainer Eric Sugarman expressed continued optimism Tuesday about his recovery.

“Really, Dalvin’s knocked the rehab out of the park,” Sugarman said. “He’s done a great job. He’s been here every day since the injury occurred post-surgery. … He’ll participate in (organized team activities and minicamp) on a limited basis. … Then the plan is for him, hopefully when he gets to training camp … he’ll be a participant just like everybody else.”

Cook, taken in the second round of the 2017 draft, was injured when he went down without contact against Detroit. Since then, he’s been optimistic about making it all the way back.

“When I first got hurt, I told Sugs, ‘I’m going to attack this thing 100 percent,’ ” Cook said. “And the staff we’ve got around me, the people they put around me, there was no chance that I wasn’t going to come back.”

“You question yourself: ‘Do I still want to do this?’ ” he said. “Because you’ve got Sugs pushing on your leg, and you’re ready to hit him across the head. And so it’s a lot. It really is, man. It’s the injury that can make you or break you. I chose the route that it wasn’t going to break me, so I’m going to move forward.”

Cook said it’s “great” being back on the field with his teammates during spring drills. He cheered them on when the Vikings finished 13-3 and made the NFC Championship Game, and is now eager to help them get even further.

“I’m proud of the guys and everything we accomplished last year,” Cook said. “So it just was a stepping stone for the whole organization. The ceiling is high.”

Among other Minnesota players coming back from injuries, defensive end Everson Griffen said he is feeling “great” after he had a “completely” torn plantar fascia that he said “bothered” him throughout the second half of the season. After being hurt in Week 8 against Cleveland, Griffen missed just one game. And tight end Kyle Rudolph said he is doing all work in spring drills but on a limited basis after having ankle surgery.

BOUNCING BACK

Rudolph said the Vikings have “added motivation” with the way last season ended.

The Vikings were walloped 38-7 at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. Two weeks later, the Eagles won Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“If it doesn’t motivate you and you’re not excited to get back to work now, you should probably just hang them up,” Rudolph said.

After ranking No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense and total defense during the regular season, the Vikings fell apart against the Eagles, allowing season-high totals in points and total yards (456).

Griffen said “fatigue” and having “never been there before and knowing how to handle it” played roles in the defensive collapse.

“It took a while to let go, but you’ve got to move on from it and learn from it and start back on the ground again,” he said.

WOOING RICHARDSON

Griffen called the Vikings’ signing of free-agent defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson last month was “music to my ears.”

Griffen helped recruit Richardson, who will take over as the starter at the three-technique position.

“I called him first and foremost to get him here, and I think (nose tackle) Linval (Joseph) called him, too,” Griffen said.

Griffen said one of his selling points was how Vikings coach Mike Zimmer helped turn Geno Atkins into a dominant three-technique defensive tackle during Zimmer’s time as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator.

Chris joined the Pioneer Press in 2013 to cover the Vikings. He was a longtime NBA writer with the Akron Beacon Journal, Rocky Mountain News and AOL FanHouse. Before coming to Minnesota, he covered the Miami Heat and Dolphins for Fox Sports. Chris has won six awards in the past three Pro Football Writers of America contests. Chris is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he spent his college years watching the losingest team in the history of Division I-A football.

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